2018 Photobook Award Winner

SIGNOS, by Veejay Villafranca

SIGNOS illustrates different scenarios brought about by severe weather patterns in the Philippines. As typhoons get stronger, water levels rise and farmlands dry out, the country is faced with a reality that we can no longer ignore. In 2013 Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest tropical cyclones ever recorded, left 6,000 dead and over 6 million people displaced. It was devastating to the marginalized communities, many of whom live on the waters edge. SIGNOS is about the lives of the people displaced by extreme weather occurrences, further complicated by humanitarian issues such as inadequate relocation, livelihood security and human traf cking. SIGNOS illustrates the new norm. Climate change does not happen in isolation.

~

Biography

Veejay Villafranca was born in Manila. He started out in journalism as a staff photographer for the national news magazine Philippines Graphic. After becoming a freelancer in 2006, he worked with several international news wire agencies before pursuing the personal projects that later paved the way to his career as a full-time documentary photographer.

Veejay has tackled issues such as changing Filipino cultural and religious practices, the transformation of Filipino gang members, and climate displacement and other environmental issues. In 2008, he was awarded the Ian Parry Scholarship and a residency at Visa Pour l’Image for his project on the lives of former gang members in Manila and in 2013 attended the prestigious Joop Swart Masterclass program of the World Press Photo Foundation.

Veejay is based in Manila and works around the Asian region contributing to international publications and working with non-governmental organizations in producing visual reports on selected social issues.